Tardy? Nah! It’s OSCARS WEEKEND!!! (cut to the masses downloading the conveniently three-hours-shorter version of the ceremony on Monday morning)

So, here are the contendahs for the best that Show Biz had on offer for us plebes last year, followed by my predictions:

Update (3.3)!!And with the actual winners…

Best Picture:
• American Hustle: Saw it; good but not best picture material (best acting is another story)
• Captain Phillips: Saw it; good but a little one-note
• Dallas Buyers Club: Haven’t seen it
• Gravity: Saw it; loved it (in 2D)
• Her: Haven’t seen it
• Nebraska: Haven’t seen it
• Philomena: Haven’t seen it
• 12 Years a Slave: Haven’t seen it
• Wolf of Wall Street: Haven’t seen it

My Pick: 12 Years a Slave. No I didn’t see it, but I hear it’s amazing probably deserves to win more than Gravity does (which would be my choice if I happened to know anything specific about 12 Years a Slave)My Prediction: 12 Years a Slave

Actual Winner: √ 12 Years

Best Actor:
• Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years: Haven’t seen it
• Christian Bale, American Hustle: Saw it; think he did a really good job
• Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers: Haven’t seen it
• Bruce Dern, Nebraska: Haven’t seen it
• Leo DiCaprio, Wolf: Haven’t seen it

My Pick: Chiwetel. No I haven’t seen it, but I do love him and wouldn’t it be lovely if he got it?My Prediction: Chiwetel.

Actual Winner: Matthew McConaughey!

Best Actress:
• Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine: Haven’t seen it
• Sandra Bullock, Gravity: Saw it; think she did a really good job
• Judi Dench, Philomena: Haven’t seen it
• Amy Adams, American Hustle: Saw it, and quite literally forgot I was watching Amy Adams, which means she did a really really good job.

My Pick: Cate Blanchett, because she’s lovely, but Sandra Bullock, because she’s lovely too, and she did do a really good job.My Prediction: Cate

Actual Winner: √ Cate

Supporting Actor:
• Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers: Haven’t seen it
• Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips: Saw it, and yeah he did a really good job but in that way where I mostly give credit for the performance to the director (but wouldn’t it be lovely if he won?)
• Bradley Cooper, American Hustle: Saw it, think he was good but not as good as some of the others probably were
• Jonah Hill, Wolf: Haven’t seen it

My Pick: Barkhad AbdiMy Prediction: Jonah Hill. Actually I have no idea but I feel like Jared Leto is getting so much talking up that he won’t win.

**Actual Winner: Jared Leto***

Supporting Actress:
• Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine: Haven’t seen it
• Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle: Saw it, and she was great, but her New Yawk accent kept taking a left turn at Louisville.
• Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years: Haven’t seen it
• Julia Roberts, August: Osage County: Haven’t seen it
• June Squibb, Nebraska: Haven’t seen it

Original Screenplay:
• American Hustle: Saw it; thought it was baggy and lacked pacing and the whole reveal at the end fell kind of flat.
• Blue Jasmine: Haven’t seen it
• Dallas Buyers: Haven’t seen it
• Her: Haven’t seen it
• Nebraska: Haven’t seen it

My Pick: Blue JasmineMy Prediction: Dallas Buyers

Actual Winner: Huh; Her

Adapted Screenplay:
• Before Midnight: Haven’t seen it
• Captain Phillips: Saw it and thought they must have done a very good job with the book.
• Philomena: Haven’t seen it
• 12 Years: Haven’t seen it
• Wolf: Haven’t seen it

My Pick: 12 Years (funny how many I’m picking this for considering I haven’t seen it)My Prediction: 12 Years

Actual Winner: √ 12 Years

Best Animated Film:
• The Croods: Haven’t seen it
• Despicable Me 2: Haven’t seen it
• Frozen: Saw it, loved it, even if the big-eyed-small-mouth character design falls completely apart when a female character is in profile, guys. Sort it out.
• The Wind Rises: Haven’t seen it
• Ernest & Celestine: Haven’t seen it

My Pick: FrozenMy Prediction: Frozen

Actual Winner: √ Frozen

Foreign Language:
• The Great Beauty (Italy): Haven’t seen it
• The Hunt (Denmark): Haven’t seen it
• Broken Circle Breakdown (Belgium): Haven’t seen it
• The Missing Picture (Cambodia): Haven’t seen it
• Omar (Palestine): Haven’t seen it

My Pick: The Great Beauty, because I heard it was “so Italian”, and I heard The Hunt was kinda meh.My Prediction: The Great Beauty

Actual Winner: √ The Great Beauty

Documentary:
• The Act of Killing: Haven’t seen it
• Cutie and the Boxer: Haven’t seen it
• Dirty Wars: Haven’t seen it
• The Square: Haven’t seen it
• 20 Feet from Stardom: Haven’t seen it

My Pick: The Act of Killing. I might bring myself to watch it someday.My Prediction: The Act of Killing

Actual Winner: Oh come on, 20 Feet from Stardom?

Cinematography:
• The Grandmaster: Haven’t seen it
• Gravity: Saw it
• Inside Llewyn Davis: Haven’t seen it
• Nebraska: Haven’t seen it
• Prisoners: Haven’t seen it

My Pick: GravityMy Prediction: Gravity

Actual Winner: √ Gravity

Costume Design:
• American Hustle: Saw it; thought they did a good job, except they never explained how any of the ladies could bend over to sit without flashing the room.
• The Grandmaster: Haven’t seen it
• The Great Gatsby: Saw it, think they did a pretty good job, and really Miuccia Prada should share the Oscar if it wins, eh?
• The Invisible Woman: Haven’t seen it
• 12 Years: Haven’t seen it

My Pick: GatsbyMy Prediction: 12 Years

Actual Winner: √ Gatsby

Original Song:
Haven’t heard any of them except “Let it Go” from Frozen which I’ve heard, in multiple languages, about a bajillion times. Peter totally loves it.

My Pick: Let it GoMy Prediction: Let it Go

Actual Winner: √ Let it Go

Skipping now to Special Effects and then ending with that:
• Gravity
• The Hobbit: Haven’t seen it
• Iron Man 3: It was good but I don’t think it’ll win
• The Lone Ranger: Haven’t seen it
• Star Trek: It too was good but I just don’t think these summer blockbusters will ever beat Gravity.